Photographic flash holder



March 21, 1961 E. s. MCKEE EIAL 2,976,398

PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASH HOLDER Filed June 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 EiwaldSMcKee EdwardL. S farm INVENTORS xii/W ATTORNEY S March 21, 1961 s, MCKEE EI'AL PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASH HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 2, 1958 Edward S. McKee EduJardL. Slurm INVENTORS ATTORJVE'YS I PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASH HOLDER Edward S. McKee and Edward L. Sturm, Rochester,

N.Y., assignors to EastmanKodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 2, 195s, Ser. No. 739,353 6 Claims. 01. 240-1.3

. The present invention! relates tophotography, and particularly toan improved flash holder for taking flash pictures.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a flashholder at a moderate cost, with satisfactory reflector efliciency, that is compact enough to be easily carried in a mans pocket or a ladys purse.

Another object is to provide such, aflash holder which will readily accommodate either the bayonet type flash,

lamp, i.e., No. or No. 25, or a subminiature type flash 1amp',i.e., M2.

And still another object is to provide a flash holder of thetype set forth in which the lamp socket and reflector are contained within a hinged cover which can be moved between 'a raised position, wherein the reflector and lamp sockets are available for use, and a closed po-.

sition, wherein the case which. contains the source of potential is closed by said cover with the reflector and lamp sockets disposed within the case- And a further objectis to provide a flash holder of the type described wherein the electrical connection between the lampsocketsand the source of potential and terminals'in, the case'includes contacts having av con-.

tinuous Wipingv engagement at the hinge connection between the cover, and the'case, and which wiping engagement also serves as a means for 'frictionally restraining the cover to remain in both its open and closed positions.

still another object of the present invention is to providea flash holder of the type described which con- .tains a small manually-operated electrical generator and condenser as the sourceof power, in place of a battery or a battery and condenser combination as commonly constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and showing the cover' raised to. its operative position. The cover is shown in its closed position by means of broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken through a socket assembly substantially on line 2 -2 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 3 is. a horizontal section taken through the socket assembly substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 3A is a sectional detail showing a preferred embodiment of contact construction to provide a detent actionto restrain thecover in both of its two positions.

--Fi-g. 4 is a front elevational view' of the flash holder with the cover in a raised position; A

.Fi'g. 4A is a sectional detail. showing another embodiment of contact construction to provide a detent action to; restrain; thecover. in bothot its two positions; and

-1 g'; 5. is. a schematicwiring diagram of the lamp circuit of the flash holder connected to the flash switch of a camera shutter.

A flash holder constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of our invention is shown in the drawings as comprising a case 10 and a cover 11, made of a molded plastic material, which are hinged together at 12 in such a manner that when the cover is closed, as shown by broken lines in Fig. 1, a compact package is obtained; and when the cover is opened, and the flash holder is attached to a camera, the cover is in a position to concentrate light on the photographic subject by aid of a reflector 13 fixed to the inside surface of the cover.

The dual lamp socket 14 is a separate molded plastic part attached to bosses 15 on the inside of the cover by two screws 16 and 16'. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, it ineludes two sockets 17 and 18 in side-by-side relation in front of the reflector 13, socket 17 being of such diameter and configuration as to receive the bayonet base type flash lamp L, i.e., No. 5 or No. 25, While socket 18 is of such diameter and configuration as to receive the base of subminiature type flash lamps L i.e., M-2, which as is well known, has an annular flange or circumferential groove 19 extending around the shell of the lamp base,.instead of bayonet pins, for holding the lamp in its socket. In Fig. 1 the difierent type flash lamps are shown positioned in their respective sockets, and it will be apparent that both types of lamps cannot be used at the same time, but must be used individually or selectively.

Each lamp is latched in its socket by a single sheet metal ejector spring 20, of the form best shown in Fig. 2, the end 21 of which extends through an opening 22 in the front wall of the socket assembly 14. The lamp shell is latchedv in its latch socket 17 by a cam-shaped latch socket 23 formed by that portion of the ejectingspring 26 passing alongside this socket and which is nor-.

mally urged radially inward throughan opening 24 in The lamp L is adapted to be latched in its socket 18 by a latch member 27 struck out from portion 28 of ejector spring 20 lying across the back of socket 18 and which is normally urged by the resiliency of member 20 through an opening 29 in the wall of the socket.

.. When a lamp L is inserted into socket 18, this latch member is cammed out of the socket until the groove 19 in the lamp base reaches the latch, whereupon the latch snaps into this groove and locks the lamp in the socket. The ejector spring 20 is mounted in the dual socket 14 by having a perforated ear portion 30 thereof embracing the screw 16, see Fig. 3, which holds the socket assernbly in the cover. It will thus be seen that by pressing the end 21 of ejector spring 20 rearwardly and to the right, looking at Figs. 2 and 4, that both latch members 23 and 27 will be moved out of their respective sockets 17 and 18 to release a lamp therefrom. This ejector I spring 20 and the latch members 23 and 27 integral therewith also serve as an. electrical conductor to the shell of the lamp bases as will be clearly pointed out herein after.

The electrical contact to the center or base contact of each lamp is made by a center contact '35 which extends. across the bottom of each of the sockets 17 and 18 to be engaged by the base contact of a lamp placed in either 1 7 socket, see Figs. 1. and 3. This contact is bowed, shown at 36, so that itact's as a spring to normally urge Patented Mar. 21, 1961 the lamps axially out of the sockets. This base contact is mounted in the socket assembly by screw 16 which passes through a perforated ear 37 turned up from an arm 38 integral with the contact 35, see Fig. 3.

Clamped to the perforated ear portion 30 of ejector spring 20 by screw 16, and to the perforated ear 37 by screw 16, are like resilient contact fingers 39, of the form best shown in Fig; 3A,. to act as brushes and conduct electrical current to the socket contacts from metal contact straps 40 and 40. These contact straps arev made of fairly rigid material and are formed to lie close against the inside wall of the case where they are out of the way and do not take away from the storage space in the upper part of the case which receivesthe socket assembly 14 when the cover is closed. The upper ends 41 of each of contact straps 40 and 40' are wrapped around the stationary portion of the hinge between the cover and case and thus provide a good bearing surface for the contact fingers 39 to insure good electrical contact between these parts. The wiping engagement between the ends of the contact straps 40 and 40 and the contact fingers 39 is also used to provide a detent action to hold the cover in both its raised and lowered positions. To this end the upper ends 41 of the contact straps are provided with two fiat portions 42 and 42' spaced substantially 180 from one another, see Fig.

3A. When the cover is in its raised position, the straight portion of the contact fingers 39 lies against the top flat portion 42 of the contact straps, and when the cover is closed, the straight portion of the contact fingers 39 lies against the bottom flat portion 42. The'rather sharp break or hump 43 between the flat portions 42 and 42' and the arcuate portion between the two oifers a detent action to hold the cover in both of its positions.

The same result can be accomplished by the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4A. Here the upper ends 411' of the contact straps 40" and 40' are wrapped tightly around the hinge position to have a circular outline. Then each upper end is provided with two embossings 45 oriented in such a manner as to allow the formed end 100 of the ends of contact fingers 3-9 to pass over the embossings just as the cover reaches its open and closed positions. It will thus be seen that the cooperation between the formed ends 100 of the contact fingers 39' and the embossings 45 will provide a detent action to hold the cover in each of its two positions.

The lower section of the case 10 is divided off by a partition 46 into a compartment for housing a source of potential for the lamp circuit, and which in the preferred embodiment is a small manually-operated electrical' generator and condenser. This compartment is adapted to be closed by a mechanism plate 47 which can beheld in place by any suitable means, i.e., a U- shaped clip, the cross arm 48 of which extends across the outside of the back wall of the case and the upright arms of which extend through the compartment where their ends 49 pass through apertures in the mechanism plate, 47 and can be turned over to hold the plate in place. The generator comprises a permanent magnet rotor 50 fixed to a shaft 51 rotatably mounted in two molded nylon end bearings 52 and 53 which are held between two pole pieces 54, the mechanism plate 47 and the back wall of the case, and which all act to hold the rotor 50 centered between the pole pieces. Fixed between and surrounding a" bar connecting the pole pieces 54 is a coil 55.

The coil 55 of the generator is electrically connected in a closed series circuit by leads 56 and 57 to a diode, or other form of rectifier, 58 and a condenser 59, respectively. The bottom terminal of the condenser is electrically connected by lead 60 to the ground terminal 61 extending to the outside of the flash holder case, and the top terminal of the condenser is electrically connected to the bottom of contact strap 40 by lead 62. A screw terminal 63 extending to the outside of the case alongv with terminal 61 are adapted to mount the flash holder on a camera and electrically connect the flash switch in the camera shutter across the terminals as is well known and shown in US. Patent 2,600,789. Ground terminal 61 has a sliding fit with a smooth contact plug in the camera wall while screw terminal 63 threads into a threaded socket on the camera wall. Stud 64 extending from the side of the flash holder merely draws up against the camera wall when the flash holder is mounted thereon to provide added support for the flash holder.

The screw contact 63 is electrically connected, by a brass contact strip 66, to the left contact strap 40 when the flash holder is secured to the camera and metal shoulder 67 on the screw knob 68, which may be plastic, is drawn down against this contact strip 66. When the flash holder is on a camera, a spring washer 69 holds the metal shoulder out of contact with the contact strip 66 thereby opening the circuit in the flash holder and preventing accidental firing of a lamp should the ground and screw terminals 61 and 63" be shorted in handling.

The rotor 50 is geared through a pinion 70 to a molded internal gear driver 71 rotatably mounted on the front of the mechanism plate 47. The driver gear is retained by a screw 72 to a bearing stud on the mechanism plate. When the cover 11 of the flash holder is open, this driver gear is accessible for rotation by the operator. When the drive gear is turned by the operator, an A.C. electrical current generated in the coil 55 is rectified to a halfwave current by the diode 58 and builds up an electrical discharge in the condenser 59. The diode also prevents the charge on the condenser from leaking back through the generator when the rotation ceases, and maintains the charge on the condenser to a sufficient voltage to fire a lamp for several seconds. When the camera shutter switch, indicated at S in Fig. 5, is closed, the condenser 59 discharges through the right-hand contact strap 40', lamp L or L left-hand contact strap 40, terminal 63, shutter switch S, ground terminal 61, and back to the condenser.

In a recess between the reflector 13 and the coverthere is slidably mounted a black plastic shield 81' which can be pulled out, see dotted line position in Fig. 1 to cover the top of the flash lamp. This shield would be pulled out when the flash holder is attached to a camera equipped with a waist level finder and would shield the operators eyes against the flash of a lamp. While we have shown this flash holder equipped with terminals extending from the side thereof for the purpose of mounting the flash holder on the side of a camera body and at the same time to connect the flash holder switch of the camera shutter across said terminals to control the lamp circuit, it is pointed out that this flash holder is not limited to this type of attaching means. For example, the flash holder might include a conventional mounting foot on its lower side wall which would be adapted to slide into the conventional range finder clip onthe top wall of a camera for mounting the flash holder to the camera. Then instead of having the circuit connections completed through such mounting means; the flash holder might include a recessed socket in its side wall, the terminals of which are connected to the lamp circuit of the holder and which are adapted to be connected into the flash switch of the camera shutter by the conventional extension cord. Such a socket construction is shown in the flash holder of US. Patent 2,614,409.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the use of a generator and condenser combination as the source of potential for firing the flash lamps. A pair of small dry cells, i.e., Penlite cells, could be connected in series with the right and left contact straps 40 and and serve in the same capacity as the condenser 59 when charged by the generator.

It is also pointed out that the invention is not ncces sa'rily limited to the use of l a dual socket adapted to selectively accommodate lamps of diflerent sizes. Even if the flash holder contained but one lamp socket, instead of two, all of the novel features of the invention except the common lamp release for two sockets, would be availed of in their disclosed combination.

Although we have shown and described certain specific embodiments of our invention, we are fully aware that many modifications thereof are possible. Our invention, therefore, is not to be limited to the precise details of construction shown and described by way of disclosure, but is intended to cover all embodiments coming within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: p

1. In a flash holder the combination of an open-sided case having a back wall and side walls rising therefrom; a pair of electrical terminals extending through the wall of said case across which a flash switch in a camera is adapted to be connected; a source of electrical potential mounted in said case and connected in circuit with said terminals; a cover hinged to the edge of one of said side walls to move substantially 180 between a lowered position, wherein said cover closes said case, and a raised position, wherein the cover extends substantially vertically from the side wall of said case with its inside surface exposed; a reflector on the inside surface of said cover; a dual flash lamp socket fixed to the inside of said cover adapted to selectively seat two different types of flash lamps at difierent times and comprising two sockets of different diameters arranged in side-by-side relation in front of said reflector; the wall of each socket provided with an opening; a pair of shell contacts, one normally extending through each of said openings, adapted to positively engage the shell of a lamp base inserted into the respective sockets and hold the lamp in the socket and connect them into said circuit; a resilient base contact in the bottom of each socket, adapted to engage the base contact of a lamp inserted into the respective sockets and apply an axial thrust to the lamp; means for electrically connecting each of said shell contacts and said base contact in circuit with said source of potential and said terminals; said last-mentioned means including a pair of rigid contact straps formed to lie against the walls of said case; one end of one strap connected to one of said terminals and one end of the other strap connected to one side of the source of potential; the other end of each strap wrapped around a stationary portion of the hinge between the cover and said'case; and a pair of resilient contact fingers in said cover electrically connected at one end to opposite ones of said socket contacts and having their other end in constant wiping engagement with the ends of different ones of said contact straps wrapped around said hinge, and cooperating means on the engaging portions of said contact fingers and the portions of the hinge straps engaged thereby providing a detent action to frictionally restrain the cover against movement away from either of its open and closed positions.

2. A flash holder according to claim 1, in which said cooperating means comprises a straight portion on one of said resilient contact fingers adapted to wipe over the wrapped around portion of said hinge straps and extending substantially tangentially of the hinge, and two flat portions on the wrapped around portion of the hinged strap engaged by said last mentioned contact finger which are spaced substantially 180 apart whereby one thereof is engaged by the straight portion of the contact finger when the cover is in its closed position and the other is engaged when the cover is in its open position.

3. A flash holder according to claim 1, in which said cooperating means comprises a' recess in that portion of each of said contact fingers adapted to wipe over the wrapped around portion of said hinge straps, and two spaced protu'berances on each of said wrapped around portions of said hinge straps, one in a position to be engaged in said recess when the cover is closed and the other in a position to be engaged when the cover is open.

4. In a flash holder the combination of an open-sided case having a back wall and side walls rising therefrom; a pair of electrical terminals extending through the wall of said case across which a flash switch in a camera is adapted to be connected; a source of electrical potential mounted in said case and connected in circuit with said terminals; a cover hinged to the edge of one of said side walls to move substantially 180 between a lowered position, wherein said cover closes said case, and a raised position, wherein the cover extends substantially vertically from the side wall of said case with its inside surface exposed; a reflector on the inside surface of said cover; a dual flash lamp socket fixed to the inside of said cover adapted to selectively seat two diflferent types of flash lamps at diiierent times and comprising two sockets of different diameters arranged in side-by-side relation in front of said reflector; the wall of each socket provided with an opening; a pair of shell contacts, one normally extending through each of said openings, adapted to positively engage the shell of a lamp base inserted into the respective sockets and hold the lamp in the socket and connect them into said circuit; a resilient base contact in the bottom of each socket, adapted to engage the base contact of a lamp inserted into the respective sockets and apply an axial thrust to the lamp; means for electrically connecting each of said shell contacts and said base contact in circuit with said source of potential and said terminals; said last-mentioned means including a pair of rigid contact straps formed to lie against the walls of said case; one end of one strap connected to one of said terminals and one end of the other strap connected to one side of the source of potential; the other end of each strap wrapped around a stationary portion of the hinge between the cover and said case; and a pair of resilient contact fingers in said cover electrically connected at one end to opposite ones of said socket contacts and having their other end in constant wiping engagement with the ends of diflerent ones of said contact straps wrapped around said hinge, and a single lamp ejecting member extending to the outside of said dual socket and manually movable from a normally inoperative position to an operative position wherein it releases a lamp from either socket, said lamp ejecting member connected to the shell contact of each socket so as to simultaneously move them both from their normal lamp engaging positions to release a lamp and allow them both to simultaneously return to their normal lamp engaging positions when said ejecting member is moved between its operative and inoperative positions, respectively.

5. A flash holder according to claim 4, in which said lamp ejecting member and each of said shell contacts constitute integral parts of a single resilient metal member mounted in said cover in such a way that the inherent resiliency thereof moves said shell contacts into their normal operative positions relative to their respective sockets when manual pressure on that portion of the ejecting member extending to the outside of said dual socket is released.

6. In a flash holder the combination with an opensided case; a cover hinged on one edge of said case to move between open and closed positions; a source of electrical potential contained in and occupying a part of said case; a flash lamp socket fixed to the inside of said cover and disposed so as to occupy free space in said case when the cover is closed and be exposed for the reception of a lamp when the cover is open; means for electrically connecting the contacts of said socket in circuit with said source of potential and including a pair of rigid contact straps formed to lie against the wall of said case, one end of each; strap wrapped around a stationary portion of the hinge between the cover andsaid case; and a pair of resilient contact;fingers carried by saidcover to move therewith and electrically connected at one end to opposite contacts of the socket and having their: other end in constant wiping engagement with the ends of different ones of said contact straps wrapped around said hinge as the cover moves between its two positions; and cooperating means integral with the engaging portions of said contact fingers and contact straps providing a detent action to frictionally restrain the cover against movement away from either of its open and closed positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Weaver June 18, 1918 Cressaty Oct. 7, 1941 Stein et a1 Dec. 9, 1941 Le'sti May 1, 1945 Lee et a1 Nov. 25, 1947 Tatro Feb. 20, 1951 Schwartz et a1 Apr. 16, 1957 Greger Aug. 27, 1957 Bing et a1 Nov. 5, 1957 Fischer Mar. 3, 1959 

